A Chocolate Lover’s Guide to the Best Desserts in Toronto

Let’s face it, sometimes with chocolate, you just want to have it all. Toronto is an urban playground for sweets, desserts, and chocolate lovers, with heavenly smelling artisanal shops crafting some seriously creative and delicious treats. For the sweet tooths out there who know chocolate desserts are the best desserts, but aren’t sure where to find the best chocolate store in Toronto, look no further. Here is a chocolate lover’s guide to the city.

Soma Chocolatemaker

Soma is the only local bean-to-bar European-style chocolate maker in Toronto. Highly regarded by chocolate connoisseurs, Soma is housed in the Distillery District. Once you enter this former whisky-aging tankhouse from the cobblestone street, you’re immediately bombarded with the rich smells of hot churning chocolate. In this open-concept mini-chocolate factory you can watch the cacao nibs transform into Soma’s beautiful chocolates. Soma does a collection of interesting chocolate truffles. One particularly Canadian version is the Douglas Fir, a fruity, yet piney chocolate infused with tree oil. If you can’t make it to the Distillery District, no problem, Soma has another chocolate store in Toronto located in the Trinity Bellwoods neighbourhood.

Odile Chocolat

Odile is a Toronto-based chocolate shop that specializes in some of the best desserts in Toronto. Fine handmade truffles with inventive ingredients like wine, spices, herbs and flowers are crafted by owner Odile Chatelain, who learned her craft while making truffles with her mother every Christmas near Paris, France. Try the Romance truffle, a devilish combination of champagne, black pepper, and rose petals, perfect for showing your special someone how much they mean to you.

ChocoSol

ChocoSol is a chocolate maker with a conscience. In addition to controlling the whole process of turning raw chocolate beans into bars, ChocoSol promotes the production of sustainable, low-ecological-footprint chocolate. They even host workshops on everything from artisanal chocolate-making to urban agriculture and rooftop gardening. Their Jaguar Swirl chocolate stands out. It’s a rich and creamy creation swirled with chocolate that’s made from a rare white cocoa bean.

Ambiance Chocolat

Ambiance is a gourmet boutique chocolate store in midtown Toronto whose selection of pralines is unbeatable. Small-batch blending ensures Ambiance’s chocolates are always fresh and consistently superb in flavour. They offer everything from two-piece to 40-piece gift boxes, depending on how generous (or obsessive) you are about your chocolates. They also make their own hot chocolate which is, as you can imagine, exquisite and the perfect complement to the best desserts. It’s pure chocolate bliss in a cup and ideal for fighting off the chills of winter.